It is interesting to consider these lessons in juxtaposition to those enumerated by another prominent Harvard professor, those in the epilogue of Samantha Power’s Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vierira De Mello and the Fight to Save the World (my American Foreign Policy class recently read and discussed it).

Legitimacy matters, and it comes from legal authority (or consent) and competence performance.

Spoilers, rogue states, and nonstate militias must be engaged

Fearful people must be made more secure

Dignity is the cornerstone of order

Outsiders must bring humility and patience in our dealings with ‘foreign lands.’

There is much that could be said about both sets of ‘lessons’ and their dilemmas. The most important point is how both proceed from a desire to engage the world and lift it up in positive ways, a desire that is long rooted in the American experience but is also noble and worthy. Given the unfolding economic condition in the US and elsewhere, it is unclear if this engaged emancipatory impulse will be sustained. I think it is in grave danger of being eclipsed by a much more parochial self-interested mindset.

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

About Dr Gerard Toal

Irish born academic living in Washington DC researching geopolitical competition and territorial conflicts in post-Communist Europe. Author of CRITICAL GEOPOLITICS (1996), BOSNIA REMADE (w C Dahlman) and NEAR ABROAD: PUTIN, THE WEST AND THE CONTEST OVER UKRAINE AND THE CAUCASUS (Oxford University Press, 2017).